Meryl Streep Paints Face Her Orange to Impersonate Ranting Billionaire
Come awards season, Hollywood's academies would be remiss to ignore Meryl Streep's latest character — a ranting billionaire whose face is painted orange (you might have heard of him).
As part of a gala for New York City's Public Theater — a tribute to Shakespeare in Central Park — Streep took on the role of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, in a performance the New York Times has noted was pitch-perfect "down to the pursed lips and low-hanging belly."
Streep joined Christine Baranski — who played presumptive Democratic nominee for President Hillary Clinton — in a closing-act re-imagining of Kiss Me Kate's "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," something that may have convinced you your morning coffee was laced with a new designer narcotic.
Complete with Trump's wild, signature gesticulating and the tycoon's affected deep timbre, Streep's performance wowed the crowd, which included New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg Lin-Manuel Miranda and Bette Midler. This was all the more impressive considering it was a total surprise, even to the event's organizers.
"Utterly her idea, beginning to end,” Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis told The Times. “There were skeptics, there were doubters, but one of those skeptics was not Meryl Streep. She was absolutely sure she could do it. None of us had seen her in costume or makeup, till she walked out tonight."
Watch Streep's performance bits above.
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